Pacific NW Photos & Video

The early season smallmouth bass fishing in the Columbia River is starting to pick up. Early in the season, only the bigger fish start moving, so you may not catch a lot of fish, but the chances for a trophy smallmouth bass are better. For the past couple weeks, we've been picking off a few nice fish here and there, but in the past week or so, the fishing has picked up and we've managed to find a few bigger, hard fighting early spring smallmouths.



This is the time of year to look for the big fish and after a good deal of paddling around trying to find the fish, we did manage to find a couple big smallmouth bass.



This is the time of year to fish for big smallmouth bass, but it is also a windy time of the year so now it's a challenge to find a relatively calm day while the fishing is still good.

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The water is warming up, as are the longer spring days, and the smallmouth bass season is moving into summertime mode with more fish being active. The water level in the Columbia River has already dropped significantly from the seasonal high water mark from a week or so ago, we hope that there is not a repeat of last year's dry and hot weather that lowers the river water to the bare minimum. Really warm water also allows the river vegetation to grow out of control and can make fishing difficult.





It's a nice time of year in the Columbia Gorge. While the number of fishermen is increasing, especially on weekends, it has not yet hit full summer mob scene with caravans of weekend warriors advancing from the west. It gets more and more crowded every year as more people look to escape quickly growing big cities.

The bass are here but you need to find them for a successful fishing trip. You may catch them ten yards from the launch or you might have to paddle for hours to find where the active fish are.



The big bass are still out there, soon they will be heading for the deeper parts of the river, leaving the small to medium size fish to occupy the most commonly fished areas. The Gorge is a windy place and spring is one of the windiest seasons, so finding a calm day can be the biggest challenge.

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We had a pretty good start to the 2016 smallmouth bass fishing season with a few real big ones. Early spring is when the big fish come out so we like to be there to greet them.



2016 Early Season Smallmouth Bass Fishing

If you don't see the video, click on the link below the blank space and it will take you to YouTube.



https://youtu.be/SfUyLkpWFu8

Back to back days over 100° means that summer is here so it's on to the summer fishing season!

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The John Day River in north central Oregon is one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the United States. You can catch smallmouth bass up and down the entire run of the river, catching fifty or a hundred fish a day is not uncommon. While most people visualize Oregon as green forests and rainy, central Oregon is hot, dry and brown in the summer. Daytime temperatures can reach over 100°F, so the best time to hit the river is early in the day.



The John Day rivermouth where it empties into the Columbia River is an excellent kayak fishing spot. The smallmouth bass tend to be a little larger on the Columbia, but there are big bass on the John Day as well.



No matter where you fish on the John Day River, the odds are pretty good you will be in for a day of non-stop smallmouth bass fishing action you won't soon forget!

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The weather is warming up, the longest days of the year are here and it's time for the summer smallmouth bass fishing to begin! The mountains still have a good coating of snow but the daytime temps in the Columbia River basin are into the eighties and above. All that is needed is a day without howling wind and it's out on the river for some bass fishing.



The water level in the Columbia River can change a foot or two in less than twenty four hours so the fish have a tendency to move around. Plenty of places for the fish to go and the same spot can fish very differently from one day to the next.



Using a kayak to get to places a boat can't get to can be just the ticket to finding the fish. Smallmouth bass are great fighters, especially on light tackle.



Most of the bass are less than a pound or so, but the bigger ones are there and sometimes you catch one.

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Waterman at Work - Kayak Fishing Photos, Video,Kayak Rigging - Blog

The John Day River in north central Oregon is one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the United States. There is great fishing along the entire length of the river as well as in the Columbia River at the John Day rivermouth. Catching fifty to a hundred fish in a single day would not be unusual. It's a great place for kayak fishing.



https://youtu.be/aNM4O72YG68

The only problem with fishing on the John Day River is that when you go fishing at your local smallmouth bass spot, you are disappointed when you don't catch a fish on every cast!

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This is the best time of the year around here as far as the weather goes. If you are a kayak fisherman, the only problem is the wind. There is plenty of wind in the Columbia River Gorge so when you get a calm day or two, you better pack up the kayak and get out there. It's been hot here so getting an early start to beat the heat is a good idea.



If you're looking for kayak fishing adventure, you've come to the right place. If you need a parking lot, paved launch, flush toilets and Starbucks nearby, this probably isn't for you.



The fishing for smallmouth bass on the Columbia River has been as good as it gets. Kayak fishing is a great way to go after smallmouth bass. There are unlimited spots to go after them and smallmouth bass are great fighting fish. The state record bass might be underneath your kayak.



Take a break from bass fishing and pick some wild blackberries. The berries that grow alongside the river are the sweetest and juiciest berries.



A little bit off the beaten path, but no real adventure comes at the end of a traffic jam or freeway exit.



Let the good times roll

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Summer is really flying by and the smallmouth bass fishing on the Columbia River remains very good. It also remains very hot and windy so early starts are mandatory. The wind has been on again, off again; hard to tell what it's going to be like. The mornings are sure nice this time of year.



The smallmouth bass fishing is as good as it's been all summer and it has been pretty darn good.



Plenty of good sized, hungry smallmouth bass from the Columbia River.



We were fishing near an osprey nest on an old river dock piling that had three healthy osprey chicks. In the past week of fishing, they young birds have taken their first flight. Pretty cool to see.



After seeing us around for a couple weeks, I think this young osprey was a bit curious about the humans in the kayaks. They could see us catching fish, maybe they were anxious to get in on the action.



There was a lot of smallmouth bass fishing action to see.



The smallmouth bass are still biting, but winter steelhead have started to show up so the bass fishing season will be coming to a close very shortly. For a week or so, we will probably have the smallmouth bass/steelhead combo trips going before going all in on steelhead and salmon.

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The summer days of August are getting shorter but it's still plenty hot. It's been a windy summer that has limited the fishing opportunities on the Columbia River, but when we've got out there, the fishing for smallmouth bass has been very good.

The early morning is the coolest and calmest time of the day.



The fishing is also best in the morning before the temperature climbs quickly into the 90's.



Most of the smallmouth bass were in the one to two pound range, but I did manage to get a couple bigger ones. Usually you catch these bigger fish in the early spring before they hide out in the deeper water to escape the summer heat, but smallmouth bass fishing is unpredictable, you never know what you are going to get.



The salmon and steelhead are starting to show up so that will pretty much take care of the smallmouth bass fishing for the year. Now it's time for big game fishing!

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I caught a few wild salmon last week, all released unharmed, including a huge Chinook salmon that was probably close to thirty pounds. Tough to watch that one swim away. On a borderline weather day, I hooked up with a nice fish and after a fifteen minute battle, had the first keeper of the season.



I spoke with a couple fish and game guys doing fish surveys who said they saw a lot of Chinook salmon but not many steelhead or Coho salmon. Still early for Coho to be around, but the steelhead have been scarce for the past couple years.

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A fantastic week of kayak fishing for salmon in the Columbia River Gorge



Freshwater fishing doesn't get much better than this

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This salmon fishing on the Columbia River is going to be more challenging this season because the numbers of fish coming over the dams down river are lower than they have been the past few years. There are a number of serious issues contributing to the declining number of salmon including an alarming loss of salmon spawning habitat due to water being diverted from creeks and rivers. The numbers of fish coming over the Bonneville Dam, the first big dam on the Columbia River, are dropping off sharply, which could indicate a short salmon fishing season.

The numbers of Coho salmon are way down from the historical average. Last season was very slow for Coho as well. We started out catching mostly Chinook salmon, but for the past few days, most all of the salmon I've caught and seen others catch, have been Coho salmon. I've also caught a lot of native fish, which are released unharmed. The spot I usually fish at seems to have more wild salmon than some other places, but three or four native fish for every hatchery salmon caught is much higher than usual. There have been more than a few days where the fishing would be considered slow. With the low fish numbers and increased commercial, tribal and sport fishing pressure, it's the kind of season where one fish a day is a good day. Since the salmon run started, I've caught a limit of two fish only one time and was lucky to get this big Coho salmon on a day where very few fish were caught.



Like other environmental issues, you have to wonder if decreasing numbers of salmon are a short term aberration, or like other fish populations worldwide, in a state of terminal decline. In an area like the Columbia River, where nearly everything, including environmental situations, are controlled by humans, it can be hard to determine which way things are going to go. We are prepared for some challenging salmon fishing for the rest of the season, which we assume will be pretty much over by the end of October, maybe sooner.

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Don't forget we have an ocean too.








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9sCxh28p6Y

This salmon fishing season on the Columbia River is shaping up to be a short one. The numbers of fish coming over the river dams has really dropped off and a lot of the fish are not staying and headed further east upriver. The fishing for the past few Columbia River fishing sessions has been really slow. The number of fishermen seems to be dropping off during the week as it usually does as the season winds down, but the weekends are crowded as ever. At this stage of the game, if you catch one salmon per trip, that would be a success, because a lot of fishermen are going home empty handed.

I was happily surprised on the last salmon fishing day to catch a limit of two Chinook salmon on two consecutive casts. The way the fishing has been, I consider that somewhat of a salmon fishing miracle. I don't expect to see too many more limits this season, it is going to be challenging salmon fishing from here on in.



If you are planning to do any salmon fishing on the Columbia River this season, you better get going, because the fishing is most likely not going to get any better than it is now, and it isn't that good.

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The 2016 salmon fishing season is stumbling along with the numbers of fish declining at a rapid rate. There are still fish to be caught, but the estimates for returning salmon are being downgraded regularly. It's looking like the 2016 Columbia River fall salmon run is going to come in at about 40% of the ten year average. The last couple years have been much better than average so it makes this year seem especially bad. A glance at my 2016 Salmon Catch Card shows about half the fish I caught last season so far. I caught an unusual amount of native salmon early in the season that don't wind up on the card, so that has something to do with it. I'm hoping to catch a few more, but the fishing is tough and a lot of fishermen are spending a lot of time on the water with nothing to show for it. The Chinook salmon caught in the main river are getting dark, which means the end of the Chinook run is just about here.



Summer is over and we've started to get some of our famous PacNW rain. Rain affects how the salmon move around, especially into the Columbia River tributaries, so it's a part of the deal. Fishing in the rain is something that is pretty normal for this time of year. As long as the fish are biting, it's not a problem. Sitting around in the rain with no fishing action just makes it a little tougher. We've had a few days where we didn't catch anything, but most of the time, we've managed to scrape out at least one fish per trip. In a season like the one we are having, one fish per trip is a success.



The wind and rain make a difficult fishing season even more of a challenge. After a heavy rain, the river water rises, stuff gets flushed out, and the water clarity often hampers the fishing. It takes a day or two for everything to settle down. Some days, it will rain and when the rain stops, the wind starts blowing. There's a lot more to salmon fishing around here than throwing a lure in the water.

A daily limit of salmon is a rare thing this season. Here's a darker male Chinook salmon and a female Coho. The Coho salmon run is a bit later than the Chinook run, so the Coho salmon are going to be in better shape.



We are in another weather delay for the next day or two and hope to get back on it ASAP. I may have mentioned this before, but if you plan to do any fall salmon fishing on the Columbia River this year, you better get out there right away.

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